


Runaways

by chuwuyas, SweetPoisonedHeart



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Corey is hilarious, Everyone Is Gay, Funny, I don't even care, Liam is a Smol Bean, M/M, Slow Burn, Someone dies, Theo is totally crazy, not thiam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-02 09:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13315620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuwuyas/pseuds/chuwuyas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetPoisonedHeart/pseuds/SweetPoisonedHeart
Summary: Guns, drugs, money and sex. Liam never thought that a theft could change his life so much, until he met Theo, the charming (and kinda crazy) gangster that became more than a robber for Liam.





	1. The Start

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I'm writing this story with my partner in crimes Karina (@18-sweet-poisoned-heart on Tumblr), so the credits goes to both of us :) We hope you like the story as much as we do!
> 
> P.S: This one goes to TrashWrites and manoisamelon, together we are the Angst Pack!

Fire guns. Bullet cases hitting the ground. Screams. That’s all that Liam could hear around him. He crawled on all fours behind a desk, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut as he was caught up in the crossfire between the cops and the robbers.

His dark thoughts filled his mind, poisoning it with all kinds of horrible scenarios in that he could possibly end. And all of them ended up with him getting shot.

This was supposed to be another boring day of summer, helping his parents with the family business that one day will be all his. He was supposed to just come and get some checks and put the money he earned from the work in his account. Now all the money he got in his account will be stolen. Will be gone. He clenches his teeth angry at that thought, almost jumping in. The middle of the crossfire, ready to strangle the thieves empty handed.

He thinks about his friends, he thinks about how happy they are in this moment, probably enjoying their summer holiday near the pool or on some exotic island like Bahamas or something like that. He thinks about their freedom while he was doomed to endure the work his parents assigned for him and now he is going to die in this fucking stupid fire exchange.

Too preoccupied on his own thoughts he didn’t hear the steps that approached his crouched figure. He didn’t observe the bold body standing in front of him, gun in the right hand, held tight. He didn’t realize until he heard the safety being pulled near him. He raised his stare in dread, watching the man in uniform, a whimper escaping his throat.

"Kid, move. We need cover." The man spat between a growl and his normal baritone tone. Liam didn’t move, moving his eyes frozen in place between the gun and the man. "I said, move." The man growled again dangerously. Liam still couldn’t reach. The man pulls his gun, pointing it at the young boy. "Are you deaf? I said..." But before he could finish the sentence, a fire gun has been made heard, echoing in Liam’s ears louder above the others. He watches terrified as the body of the man falls at his feet, a pool of blood forming quickly at his feet. Behind him it was a silhouette, hidden by the bright rays of the summer noon sun. He could see perfectly though the contour of the gun in his right hand, still in the air.

"What a pity, I don’t like when someone repeats the same thing to me. Becomes boring." A honey-like voice. Liam let’s out a heavy sigh to escape between his lips. "Well, a thank you would’ve been nice." The voice says again, snapping Liam out of his trance.

"Uhm, yeah, uhm..." Liam stutters quietly in a trambeling voice. "T-thank you." He manages to say into an end, lowering his eyes. Big mistake. His eyes ended on the body, his stomach turning at the sight.

"Oh, anytime scared puppy! It’s always a pleasure to get in handy to the helpless citizens." The man laughs and bends so his eyes are at the same level as Liam’s. _Holy shit_ , Liam thought, watching the green storm in the eyes of the face covered man, air leaving brutally his lungs. "And I recommend you to throw out that shirt. Those blood stains are not going to get away easy. Believe me, own experience." And with that he disappeared, leaving Liam in a cloud of confusion.

He didn't know for sure what happened after that. In a moment he was looking at where the robber was, and then he suddenly got shot. He let out a scream of pain, grabbing his arm where he was shot. Luckily it was a scrape shot, but still hurts like hell. He lied in the floor screaming in pain, tears in his eyes when he tried to see from where the bullet came.

He got really confused when he saw that the bullet came from a cop, and not from one of the robbers. The cop was standing far from him, the gun still pointed to Liam as if he was waiting for him to do something; he managed to raise his middle finger to the cop.

And then, as if taking a shot wasn't good enough, the robber with green eyes showed up again.

"Shit puppy." The robber said looking at Liam's wound. "We have to take you to the hospital."

"What?!" Liam screamed when the robber grabbed him and helped him to get up, starting to lead the way to outside the bank. "You're taking me as a hostage?"

"What? No!" The robber said with a laugh. "I'm taking you to my car, we need to take you to the hospital."

Liam frowned, still grabbing his injured arm. "Why are you helping me?"

"What? I'm a robber, not a killer." The robber said.

"You just killed someone." Liam said as they arrive an alley, the robber looking for something.

He stopped. "Yeah, it happens sometimes unfortunately. GABE WHERE THE FUCK IS THE CAR? THERE'S A HURT GUY HERE!"

Liam was startled by the sudden scream, jumping in place. It took a few moments before something happens again, the robber walking in circles while waiting for the "Gabe" guy to show up. He took of his mask, passing his fingers through his brown curly hair and tying a red bandanna in his forehead to keep his hair far from his eyes. Liam hold his breath, thinking if he was too wrong in thinking the robber was really pretty.

The Gabe guy showed up right after that, curving the corner of the alley with a car in high speed. He parked next to the robber and Liam.

"Theo what the fuck is this?" The Gabe guy said, frowning his eyebrows. The robber -Theo- shrugged. "You can't just adopt kids while we're robbing banks!"

"Shut the fuck up." Theo said. "I have no idea who he is but he got shot so we gotta help him!"

"You shot the guy?!" A new voice said from the passenger's seat. The guy stood up in his seat, putting his head and half of his body out of the window, a dark blue bandanna tied in his hair. "Theodore you're a fucking idiot!"

"I didn't shoot him! The cops shot him!" Theo yelled shooting a cop that just showed up in the corner. "We have to take him to the hospital!"

"Well damn Theodore I don't if you noticed but we're fucking running away from the cops we can't drop the kid at the hospital!" The guy yelled back, loading his gun and shooting a cop from over the car.

"Well Brett I'm not letting the kid bleed to death so do something you stupid asshole!"

"This is not happening, this is not happening." Liam murmured as he pulled his hair softly.

"Stop screaming and get in the fucking car Theo we gotta go!" The Gabe guy yelled from the driver's seat, starting the car. Theo opened the door from the back seat and jumped into it.

"Get in the car kid we got you!" Theo yelled to Liam and he even thought about it before jump into the car, barely having time to get fully into it before Theo shoots a cop again and Gabe starts to drive in high speed for the Los Angeles' streets.

He looked scared at Theo at his side, on his knees and with his back to the passenger's seat -Liam was almost sure that the boy in the passenger seat's name was Brett-.

"Get down!" Theo shouted at Liam as he pulled a gun from his waist and loaded it, shooting into the rear window of the car toward the cops that were chasing them. Liam's eyes widened, bringing his hands to his head to protect himself for the shards of glass and covering his ears because of the loud noise of the shots.

He was definitely sure Theo was crazy. He watched in amazement as Theo laughed hysterically as he shooted at the cops, Gabe doing curves at high speed, the red bandanna on Theo's hair barely being enough to pull the strands of hair out of the boy's green eyes.

Liam was almost certain he was going to be arrested. How would he explain to his parents that he had been arrested because he was caught shooting at cops and running away at high speed with three gangsters even though technically he'd only been down protecting himself? He was so screwed.

He thought of how he would get back to his normal life after all of this. _If_ he would get back since the three gangsters don’t really have in their agenda giving Liam a lift at home. He cursed silently.

 _Who the hell are this guys anyway?_ He thought, still watching Theo shooting the few cops that remained. He watched him as he refilled his gun with dexterity and quickly taking his former position.

After the last of the cops were eliminated, Theo threw himself on the seat, breathless, droplets of sweat slowly traveling on the skin on his temples. Liam watched mesmerized as the boy closed his eyes with his head thrown back. Liam takes back what he just said before, this is the perfect moment to call the robber/possible kidnapper hot.

"Puppy, what are you staring at?" Theo says, opening an eye. Liam widens his eyes, probably looking like a deer in the flashlights.

"I wasn’t- I wasn’t staring!" Liam said in indignation. But Theo just smirks, causing Liam’s stomach to do funny things.

"Relax kid, I’m just messing with you." He said amused, now with both eyes open, the green gems analyzing intensely Liam’s body, sending shivers on the boy’s spine.

"I want to go home!" Liam said abruptly, creating silence in the car after the Gabe guy and the other one Brett stopped their conversation after they heard the words. Brett’s laugh cutting through the silence, Gabe joining him.

"You want to go home? Look Gabe, the kid wants to go home. Isn’t he funny?" Brett says wiping the corners of his eyes.

"He is funny, isn’t he Theo? I think we should keep him." Gabe says to Theo, but Theo just huffs, making the two boys in the front to shut their mouths.

"What’s funny in that? The pup wants to go home, he will go home." Theo says clearly, his eyes shining as he pronounced the word “pup”, making Liam to stare for a second at his lips as the “p” was formed by them. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_ Liam thinks, punching himself internally.

"Stop calling me pup! I have a name!" Liam spat, narrowing his eyes.

"Woah, what a pretty mouth. I’m sure your girlfriend enjoys kissing you." The green-eyed boy says, his smirk growing bigger. "Anyways, since you don’t want to be called pup, you can enlighten us and tell us your name, Your Highness." Theo says mockingly, mischief lightning his eyes.

"Liam. My name is Liam." He said through his clenched teeth. Oh boy, this is going to be a long ride.


	2. Way Back Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, here's the second chapter :) Enjoy it!

After they got rid of the cops, the road was kind of peaceful. Only some jokes passed between Gabe and Brett breaking from time to time the silence. Theo still got his eyes closed and Liam managed to properly sit on the bench, keeping his palm on his wound, trying to hold the bleeding.

He threw a look outside the window, watching the landmarks totally unknown by him. He frowned. This is not the route for the hospital.

"Weren’t we going to the hospital?" Liam asked confused, turning to look at the robbers that he shared the space with.

"I’m sorry Your Highness, but have you seen that there are fucking cops on our traces? I could stop the car and let you go by yourself to the hospital." Gabe hissed, making Liam to bite the inside of his cheek to stop the remark he had on the tip of his tongue to get out. He really didn’t want to mess with this guys, especially when they had guns at discretion. Theo chuckled in amusement, like throwing insults is the most entertaining thing for him. Liam bit harder the inside of his cheek, the desire to throw a line getting bigger.

"Gabe, take it easy man. The kid just wanted to know why don’t we go to the hospital." Theo said, amusement crystal clear in his beautiful voice. "Anyways, we already are here. We gotta hurry up pup or that wound will get infected." he adds, while the car is pulled in a drive way of a relatively plain house, the facade painted in a faded beautiful yellow, with one floor and a garage.

Brett got out of the car to open up garage to make access for Gabe to get it hidden as fast as possible. Gabe is the second one to get out, followed by Theo. Liam lingered with his hand on the handle, measuring the options. _What if they want to really keep me hostage? What if they want to kill me?_ All of these thoughts made Liam’s stomach to squeeze painfully.

"Come on, Liam! I told you to hurry up because we need to take care of that wound! What are you waiting for?” Theo’s loud voice startles him, causing the boy to swear under his breath and get off.

He followed Theo through a door that connected the garage with the rest of the house, with an opening directly in the living room. It was a relatively small house. Not too small, but not that big. It’s simple decorated, like none of the boys had time or the mood to do it. No paintings on the walls, no plants, walls painted in a plain white. And there was this brown couch, big enough for the three boys to fit perfectly on it, a coffee table and a TV under some cabinets. Liam looked at Theo as he opened one of them, pulling out a bottle of whiskey. Liam widened his eyes.

"Are you planning on getting drunk?" Liam asked dumbfounded, rising a questioning eyebrow. Theo let a laugh escape through his lips, the sound amazing Liam as the rasp, vibrating sound filled the room.

"No, this is actually for cleaning your wound. I can’t take care of that nice cut of yours drunk. I have time to do it after I take care of you." Theo said, eyes glimmering. "Now, take your shirt off and stay on the table." He ordered placing the bottle on the floor, before his hands were roaming through another drawer, finding the first-aid kit. Liam chuckled, thinking about how sexual this line sounded.

He stripped of his shirt and flopped on the table as Theo opened the bottle. He stopped his actions for a second, before he placed it again on the surface it previously was.

"I need a cigarette." He mutters more for himself, before taking one out of a package and placing it between his lips. He takes out a lighter and lights the cigarette up, taking a long inhale of the toxic smoke. He exhaled, the scent making Liam’s nose trills to burn. He kept it between his lips as he retook his actions. He opened the bottle, settling his body next to Liam’s. He soaked a cotton pad with the brownish liquid.

He took Liam’s arm gently, scanning the ugly wound that cut a nasty slit through his pale skin.

"You’re lucky. The bullet didn’t touch any muscles or anything vital, but you’ll still need stitches." Theo mumbles concentrated. He pressed lightly the soaked cotton pad on the wound. Liam hissed, his body jolting in surprise and Theo retreating his movements, still holding his arm firm, but gently.

"Fuck! This shit hurts like a bitch." Liam said breathlessly, clenching his eyes tights.

Theo smiled briefly, returning to his actions. "I know pup. Been there a couple times." He said stuffy by the cigarette in his lips, concentrated on what he was doing.Liam swallowed and looked away, not wanting to see his damaged skin.

Liam looked around. The house was pretty comfortable, with an ample living room and an arch that leaded to a small but complete kitchen; on his right side were small hall with three closed doors that probably leaded to the boys' rooms and next to the couch was a half-opened door that gave access to the bathroom.

He hissed again, looking at his arm. Theo had finished cleaning the wound, now he was tying a thread in a needle.

"Okay pup, this is the worst part." Theo said, smoke popping out of his mouth. "I need you to pay attention in me, okay?"

Liam nodded, Theo smiled.

"So where do you live?" Theo asked, starting the stitches. Liam closed his eyes tightly, biting his lips to not scream because of the pain.

"I'm not telling you where I live." Liam grunted, his heart accelerated in his chest.

"Okay, you don't need to tell me." Theo said. "What do you like to do in your free time?"

"I play Lacrosse. " Liam replied. "I do esgrima classes too."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." The robber said really amazed by Liam's hobbies, almost finishing the stitches in the boy's skin. "I used to play Lacrosse when I was a kid, but I sucked."

Liam laughed a bit, frowning by the pain.

"Your stitches are done. Here you go kid." Theo said finishing the stitches and cutting the thread.

Liam looked really impressed at the stitches, it doesn't hurted as much as he thought it was going to hurt. "Thank you." He said.

"Anytime." Theo said, dropping his cigarette and drinking the whisky he used to clean Liam's wound. "Let me cover it for you." He said, doing a quickly bandage in Liam's arm.

"Thank you again." Liam said, staring at his curative.

"Here." Theo said, throwing a grey sleeveless shirt to Liam. "Put this shirt on."

Liam nodded, putting the shirt on. It was a little too big to him, but he kinda liked it.

"It looks like Theo found a boyfriend." Gabe smirked, biting a slice of his pizza. Brett nodded and laughed next to him.

Theo rolled his eyes and laughed, sitting next to Brett and catching a slice of pizza to himself. Liam looked curiously at the boys, at how normal they looked like that; sitting in the couch, eating pizza and watching a silly show at the TV, like they just hadn't robbed a bank and shooted multiple cops. He tilted his head, swinging his legs in the air.

"What the hell are you looking at, kid?" Liam jumped in place when he heard Gabe speak, disconnecting him from his thoughts. He looked wide-eyed to the boys, already staring at him.

"N-Nothing." He said, still sitting in the dinner table. "May I go home now?"

The three boys stopped what they were doing, not looking at Liam. Liam swallowed, really starting pondering if he would go home again.

"I don't know, what do you think Brett?" Theo said. "What was the last time we eat human flesh?"

Liam chocked with his saliva, coughing several times.

Brett smiled. "I think two months ago. When we helped that blonde girl, remember? She tasted good."

"No, we ate that kid after that. The red-haired boy, the one with freckles." Gabe said after think for a few seconds, gesturing to Theo and Brett.

 _Oh my God_. Liam thought. _I'm really going to die._

And then the three boys were laughing as if someone has told them the funniest joke in the world. Liam's scared expression gave place to a confused one.

"Oh my God." Gabe said between laughter, breathless. "Did you see his face? It was amazing, I should've took a picture."

"Relax, kid." Brett said after stop laughing. "We're just messing with you. You scared face is priceless."

"We'll take you home after we eat." Theo said drinking his whiskey. He hit on the couch next to him. "Come here, eat some pizza. Watch this show with us, is hilarious."

He hesitated at first, but reluctantly he went to the couch and sat next to Theo, grabbing the slice of pizza Theo was holding to him. He ate slowly and uncomfortable, not trusting the boys; these guys just had robbed his family's bank, for fuck's sake, he didn't even know if he was going home ever again. He should be terrified.

But he was just... suspicious. He was supposed to be scared, he was supposed to be crying like a baby in a corner, but he wasn't. Instead of that he was sitting in a couch with three gangsters, eating pizza and watching Two and a Half Man, laughing as if they were his closest friends. He didn't feel threatened, he didn't feel angry, he just felt... Normal. Like hanging out with gangsters were the most natural thing in the world to him.

And then, the way back home was... Peaceful and nice. He felt like he was driving with his friends, listening to old music and listening to Theo sing loudly each one of them. Like a normal teenager. Like he didn't do terrible things like murder cops and rob banks.

Liam caught himself looking at Theo. Looking at his pretty face, his curly hair, his green eyes. Looking at the smile in his face when he was singing a Backstreet Boys song that was playing out loud in the car, looking at the way he and Gabe were laughing while doing it.

He wondered if he was too wrong in thinking that Theo was beautiful.

He didn't even notice when the car stopped, parking in a place hidden but close to Liam's neighborhood. He looked around to see if anyone was staring, jumping out of the car when didn't see anyone.

Theo lowered the passenger seat glass, resting his arm in the door. "Here you go pup, totally good and delivered to your home." He said, looking at Liam's damaged arm. "Well, almost totally."

Liam smiled. "Thank you. For bringing me home."

Theo nodded. "Anytime pup. Stay away from trouble."

"Stop calling me pup. I told you I have a name." Liam said, rolling his eyes.

"Sure, Your Highness." Theo smirked. Liam rolled his eyes again.

"Bye kid." Gabe said, waving to Liam when he started the car. Liam waved back and watched in silence as the car went away from him, his stomach doing funny things when he saw Theo waved and smiled to him for the last time.

He watched the car until it disappeared, making him sigh and start to walk to his home. He lived in a rich part of LA, his neighborhood being crowded by mansions and expensive cars in the streets; his house was one of the last houses in his street, a big white mansion with golden and bronze details and a well-maintained garden in front of it. He groaned when he saw his dad's Lamborghini parked in the garage.

Of course his mom would be crying when he went home. The first thing she did when Liam stepped into his house was hug him tightly and start sobbing loudly.

"Oh my God Liam. Our bank..." She said between tears, passing her fingers through Liam's messy hair before hold the boy's face with both hands. "I thought I would lose you."

"Why?" Liam asked, even though he already know what she was talking about. The crossfire, the dead cop, the bank being robbed.

"Our bank was robbed." She said. "I thought you were dead."

"Liam! Oh my God." Liam turned around to see his stepfather running to him, holding him in his arms. "Are you okay? Did you see the robbers? What happened to your arm?"

Liam thought about Theo. He thought about the way Theo took care of him, how he had made the stitches in Liam's arms and distracted him while doing that so he wouldn't be so scared. He thought about the lift home, how Gabe left him far from his house so he wouldn't have to explain why he was at a gangster's car and how Theo looked at him, making sure the boy was okay before he and Gabe left. Liam thought about how the robbers didn't threatened him, how they just sat there watching TV and eating pizza while Theo made the stitches in Liam's arm. How they looked... Nice and normal, even though they just had robbed his family's bank.

"I..." Liam managed to say, looking at his feet. "I didn't see the robbers, I wasn't at the bank when it was robbed. I was with Mason and Corey and Mason accidentally shoot me with an arrow, he's not really good with a crossbow. I'm okay though, Corey made stitches."

His mom frowned. "Corey knows how to make stitches?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah, he learned a few months ago when he was camping."

His parents seemed to buy the lie. Liam managed to smile, hugging both his parents.

"What is this shirt anyways? It's definitely not yours." His mom asked, making Liam froze. He looked down at the shirt he was wearing, the sleeveless grey shirt Theo had borrowed him.

"Yeah, uh..." He said, biting his lips. "Corey borrowed me. The arrow ripped mine." He lied blatantly.

"Uh, I don't remember Corey using shirts that big." His mom said, a little bit confused.

"Yeah." Liam said. "He doesn't use this one because of that, so he borrowed me. I have to go. Bye!"

He went directly to him room, locking the door and jumping in his bed, connecting with his friends in Skype.

"Yo man." Mason said through the camera, Corey showing up right after that with a big smile in his face. "What's up bro."

"Guys you just will NOT believe what just happened." Liam said quickly, making his friends frown.

"What happened?" Nolan asked, his face almost completely covered by a blanket. He was traveling to London with his parents.

Then Liam told them. He told them everything, because he knew his best friends wouldn't judge him; he told them about the rob, about him getting shot, about him in a car with three gangsters (and robbers) running away and shooting the police. He told them about Theo taking care of his wound, about the lift home, about how the robbers were surprisingly nice.

"... And then I told her I borrowed a shirt from you." Liam finished, watching his friends' confused faces.

"You borrowed my shirt?" Corey asked, frowning his eyebrows.

"That’s what I told her." Liam affirmed.

"Oh, which one of my shirts you borrowed?" Corey asked, the confusion starting to fade on his expression.

"Dude, it’s not your shirt..." Liam said, voice muffled by his palm as he scrunched it across his face. "It's Theo's shirt, I couldn't tell my mom a gangster borrowed me a shirt."

"Man." Nolan breathed. "I wish I had your life. Your day must've been wild."

"It was." Liam said. "How's London?"

"Cold." Nolan answered, rubbing his hands together to warm them. "And boring. I miss you guys."

"We miss you too." Mason said for all of them, a sad smile in his face. "When you'll be back?"

"Next week, I hope." The freckled boy answered, sighing.

Liam sighed too, resting his face in his right arm. "I feel bad for lying to my mom."

"Liam, I understand you found love in the most unexpected place and wanna have this Theo's babies." Mason said. "But you can't just lie to your mom because your new boyfriend is coincidentally a drug dealer."

"He's not a drug dealer." Liam said laughing and rolling his eyes. "He's a robber."

His smile faded away when he looked at his laptop screen and saw Mason, Corey and Nolan smiling slyly.

"And he’s not my boyfriend, for fuck’s sake Mase." He interjected, voice full of indignation as he just realized what his friend said.

"But he was hot, right?" Corey insisted, raising his eyebrows.

"He almost kidnapped me! I didn't notice if he was hot, I had others preoccupations!" Liam yelled.

"So he was hot then?" Corey asked again.

"Yeah, he was." Liam says.

"So, you were saying..." Nolan’s voice sounded, making the boys to jump as they almost forgot that he and Mason are also in the conversation after being so quiet.

"I was saying what, Nolan?" Liam asked, rolling his eyes at his friend’s cryptic words.

"Dude, how stupid can you be? He gave you signals, he is clearly into you! I mean, he wouldn’t have helped you if he didn’t like you." Nolan spoke animated, his hands flying in the air.

"Yes Nolan, cause in the moment you see a helpless, completely stranger kid getting shot you help him because you are into him." Liam replied, resisting the urge to smack his palm over his forehead.

"Huh, hello Liam? He's a freaking robber, why would he help you if his intentions were only robbing your family's bank and run away?" Nolan said as if it were obvious, and Liam let out a dramatic groan.

"He's not into me, guys. He just helped me, I will never see him again." He said, resting his face in his arm again.

"You said that as if you were disappointed in not seeing the fucking robber again." Mason said.

"Of course I don't want to see him again! He robbed my family's bank and kinda kidnapped me!" Liam yells.

"So you wanna see him again?" Corey asked.

Liam sighed. "Yeah, I do."

"So you got his number, right?" Corey asked with a wide grin on his face.

"No, of course not! It would have been weird as fuck to ask the number of my robber and almost kidnapper." Liam said huffing.

"But you wanted his number?" Corey asked again.

"Of course." Liam replied in a whine, making Corey's grin grow bigger.

"Guys, I have to go." Nolan said with a sigh. "Is late here, I have to sleep."

Liam, Mason and Corey made sad faces, saying goodbye to their friend. Mason and Corey disconnected shortly thereafter, and Liam sighed before get up and go take a long hot tub shower; he deserved a really good hot tub shower, his day was exhausting.

He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the shower (and taking care to not wet the bandage) and letting his mind review the events of the day. He smiled when Theo crossed his mind, frowning right away because he definitely shouldn't be smiling while thinking in the guy who just robbed his family's bank. He was so tired that even realizing he was falling sleep he didn't move, just stayed there waiting for the sleep to come.

When he finally fell asleep, he dreamed about Theo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, tell us your thoughts about it. Did you like the "gangster pack"? And Liam's friends? What do your think about Theo? Tell us!


	3. It Comes Back To You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more like a bridge for the next one, so we already apologize if it's kinda boring.

After the robbery, Liam’s life got relatively back to normal, following the routine he created from the beginning of the summer holiday. Well, almost back to normal. Since he came that night at home, everyone keeps tip toeing around him like he is made of glass and he is going to break in any moment. The employees that work in his family’s mansion, his relatives, his parents that gave him a couple of free days form work to “relax”, as if he went through something more terrible. But he still went to the Lacrosse practice and followed the esgrima classes and that made him feel a little bit normal. He was really glad that his friends didn’t change their behavior around him. 

And oh man, he was so fucked up. He was still thinking about Theo. He keeps telling to himself that it feels so wrong, but he keeps doing it. He can’t stop thinking about those green irises, or that perfect damned smile and those sinful lips that keeps wrapping around his mind. He can’t stop thinking about the fact that he might not be able to see him again and then he almost punches himself for thinking about all of that. 

And oh boy, that comes with consequences. Being distracted all the time, he can barely focus on the Lacrosse training, always getting new bruises from the outrageous number of falls and hits he took. He always sees Nolan’s pained grimace every time he gets up. He could always see and Mason how they barely keep themselves from laughing when Liam winches when he sits or hear his complaining about how hard his butt hurts. 

But that was in the beginning, now he was okay. He made progresses, shutting his mind for a moment so he could concentrate on what he is assigned to do. He kept trying as he was swirling gracefully around his teammates, tackling and passing the ball. He smirked as he launched another ball towards the goal, passing with a few inches near Corey’s head. 

"Fuck you, Dunbar!" He heard behind him, making him laugh. 

He positioned himself, preparing himself for another attack, when, for a split second he thought he saw Theo with the corner of his eye in the stands. He ignored it, probably thinking that his mind is still playing games with him. 

He begun good. He started running, took the ball, run for the goal and suddenly he was tackled on the ground, making him to exhale painfully all the air he got in his lungs. He got up, feeling the dizziness that made him swing a little on his feet. He threw an eye on the stands, just to assure himself and see if Theo really was there or not. Turns out he was right, he was just getting crazy. 

"Shit, man." Corey said approaching him, his helmet in his hands. "Are you okay?" 

Liam nodded, making a grimace. "Fine." 

Corey raised his middle finger to the boy who had knocked Liam down. 

"It's okay, Cor." Liam said. "I just got distracted for a second." 

"With what?" 

Liam shrugged. "I thought I had saw someone." 

Liam didn't need to say anything else, Corey already knew about who he was talking about. 

The next hours crawled slowly, Liam and Corey still practicing while Nolan has left earlier because his parents needed him. They both took showers after the practice is over and the coach dispensed them, agreeing that they all needed to hang out together since they hadn't time to hang out together since Nolan had come back from London. They met Mason and Nolan in their way to the snack bar. 

"So Liam, how’s it going? Are you still thinking about your boyfriend?" Mason asked as the waitress got away from them to prepare their food, making the boy roll his eyes. 

“Mason, how many times I have to tell you that he’s not my boyfriend?” Liam stated as he flopped on a bench in a booth near a window where they could see LA’s beautiful streets. 

"But you're still thinking about him, don't you?" Corey murmured without looking at Liam, too concentrated in his phone. 

"Yeah, all the time." Liam replied with a sigh. 

"Liam and Theo sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Nolan sang happily. 

Liam threw a napkin at him, only causing Nolan to sing louder between laughter. Mason accompanied him while Corey and Liam tried to find a way to get away from them as they still had time, while the people were staring at them. 

"Why are they like that?" Corey asked with a dramatic groan. 

"Believe me, I ask myself the same thing every day after I wake up." Liam replied. 

"Hey, we heard that!" Nolan says with false indignation, stopping the stupid singing session. 

"Yes! You hurt our feelings!" Mason adds, placing a hand over his heart that made Liam snort. 

"Good to know that that made them stop." He murmured to Corey, making the boy to laugh loudly. Liam covered his mouth quickly as he saw the people throwing dirty looks towards them. The last thing they needed was for them to get kicked out of their favorite diner. 

The waitress came with their food right after that, and the boys started to eat in silence even though they made some jokes and steal each other's food sometimes. 

"So, Liam." Nolan started, taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake. "You like Theo?" 

"What?!" Liam yelled, chocking with his saliva. He lowered his voice when he saw some people giving him dirty looks. "I don't like Theo. I saw him once and if you don't remember, that was when he and his gang robbed my family's bank." 

"But you're liking him?" Nolan asked again, raising his eyebrows. 

"No! I'm not liking him." Liam affirmed. 

"Yes, you are." 

"Stop it Nolan, I'm not liking him." 

"Yes, you are." Nolan said again. 

"No, I'm not." 

"Yes, you are." 

"No, I'm no-" 

"Hey, look!" Nolan interrupted him, looking outside the window. "Isn't that Theo?" 

"Where?!" Liam yelled again, violently turning around to look at where Nolan was pointing. He didn't see anything but some cars. 

Nolan smiled. "Told you you are liking him." 

Liam grunted. "I hate you." 

"Stop lying to yourself dude." Corey said with his mouth full of french fries. "Admit you're liking the drug dealer." 

"I already told you that!" Liam said grumpy. "He's a robber, not a drug dealer!" 

"So you are liking him after all." Mason said, noticing that Liam corrected again the drug dealer part but not the part that he's liking the thief. 

"No, Mason, why would I?" Liam told him exasperated, banging his forehead on the cold surface of the table. 

"I’m still wondering why am I still hanging out with you." Liam murmured more for himself, but he told that loud enough for his friends to hear that. 

"Because you are an antisocial little shit and without us you’ll die of loneliness?" Nolan pointed out, taking another big bite from his burger. 

Liam scrunched his nose disgusted, keeping himself from making a remark about his friend’s eating habits and manners. 

"Well thank you Nolan." He said instead, offended. "Now I'm really considering stop hanging out with you you stupid little shit." 

"Fuck you!" Nolan said. 

"Fuck you!" Liam echoed. 

"Shut up! Both of you." Mason interfered between his teeth. "You two will end up getting us expelled." 

"Sorry." Both of the boys said at the same time, returning their attention to their food. 

The next hours crawled as slowly as the previous ones, with the boys chatting and making fun of each other. Nolan was the first one to go home, his parents needing him to be present in a business reunion with the representatives of their hospital; Mason went home a few hours after Nolan, having French classes to take. Liam and Corey followed together to their esgrima class. 

During the esgrima class, Liam couldn't properly concentrate. His teacher warned and instructed him a couple times, even let him take a break, but nothing worked. He kept missing the attacks and lost three times in less than half an hour. 

"Liam, why don't you take a break?" His teacher told him with a soft smile, really worried about his student. Liam was one of the bests fencers in his classes. "Go to your home, take a break, get some sleep. You can come back tomorrow." 

Liam sighed, taking of his protection mask. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening with me, I can't concentrate." 

"It's okay, I understand. You've been through a lot of stuff these past few days, I understand that you can't concentrate. Go home and get some rest, you'll be okay tomorrow." 

Liam nodded. "Thank you." 

"Anytime." His teacher said again, smiling to Liam before goes to two boys who were fighting in a wrong way. 

Liam sighed again, removing his fencer clothes before goes to Corey to tell him that he was returning to his home earlier. Corey nodded, returning his fight with the random girl; Liam grabbed his stuff and left the building, putting his earphones on and starting his way back home. 

The sun was coming down, the last solar rays warming and lighting up the streets and sending a red-orange bright to the things. He looked delighted to the trees around the streets, really curious about the strange neighborhood that even though he was there three times a week he never payed really attention, always being inside of his dad's car and looking to his phone when their passed through the streets. 

He looked up to the sky, smiling and turning around himself to look around. It was a pretty neighborhood, nothing like his own; this one was more electric, with people chatting in the sidewalks and simple but pretty houses, all colored with vibrant colors like red, yellow and green. It felt different being in a whole new neighborhood when he hasn't left his own neighborhood in ages, not like this; not having the chance to look around, to see new people, to see new houses instead of the same old mansions that had in his neighborhood. 

Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons was playing in his earphones. Looking at the pretty twilight in distance, feeling the summer breeze mess his hair, he felt the will of scream at the top of his lungs, of running away. He felt free. 

But as fast as the feeling came it was gone when he felt all the looks in him. He flinched in his coat, looking down and accelerating the pace when he saw a couple of guys starting to chasing him. He turned left in a street, giving another few steps before turning right in another street to mislead the guys. It seemed to work, making Liam breath in relieve when he didn't saw the boys anymore; he turned left in an alley to come back to the principal road. 

That's when the shit happened. A guy came out from behind a wall, smiling slyly at Liam when he stopped where he was, his heart starting to accelerate in his chest. 

"Hey, Luke." The guy said stood in front of Liam. "Check this out." 

Liam turned around scared when five more guys showed up, all looking slyly and amused to Liam. 

"Hold on." The Luke guy said, a cigarette behind his ear. "Isn't that the Chimera's gang new bitch?" 

"Damn right, he is." Another guy said, a tall and strong red-haired one. "The rich boy Theo saved the other day." 

"What are you doing here, your highness? A little bit too far home, doesn't it?" A black guy said with a smirk, a weed cigarette in his mouth. Liam feel the will to puke, not liking the way the word 'your highness' sounded when the boy said it; he wasn't Theo, he couldn't talk to him like that. 

"Do you know what we do with people like you here, princess?" The Luke guy said again, passing his fingers in Liam's face and causing nauseous in him. 

"Let me go." Liam whispered when one of the guys held his arm, squeezing it and causing a small pain. "Please, let me go." 

The guys laughed. Liam closed his eyes tightly, biting his lips and trying really hard not to cry. 

"Let you go?" The red-haired guy said again, still laughing. "Oh no, princess. The fun didn't started yet." 

"Please." Liam begged again, managing to set his arm free and stepping back until he was pressed against a wall. "Let me go." 

The guys laughed again, Liam closed his eyes when the guys started to approaching him. 

But they never approached enough. Before they could touch him shots started to be heard, making Liam squeeze his hands against his ears and slide his body to the ground, shrinking against the wall and protecting himself. The shots and the screams lasted almost 10 minutes, Liam didn't dare to open his eyes, he just stayed there crying in silence with his hands pressed against his ears to lower the shots and screams down when all the shit was happening. 

When the screams finally stopped, he heard steps approaching him. He bit his lips again, his eyes still closed. 

"Well, I'm getting really tired of saving your ass, your Highness." A known voice said, amused and happy. A familiar voice that Liam didn't even have to look up to see who it belonged to. 

Theo.


	4. What a Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry we took so long, here's the chapter :)

Theo looked like shit. No, not like _shit_ , but he looked like he was just walked off a zombie movie. His clothes were dirty and torn, his hair messy, his nose bloody and there was a cut above his right eyebrow, still bleeding.

"What are you doing here?" Liam asked, his voice trembling with the last bit of fear disappearing. Theo smiled, tying his bloody and dirty bandanna in his arm to cover the new wound caused by a knife.

"I could ask you the same thing." He said, giving his hand to help Liam. Liam held his hand reluctantly, getting up and standing in front of Theo. "A little bit far away from home, isn't it?"

"I was at my esgrima class. I was going home and then..." Liam said in a low voice, trying really hard to not look at the bodies in the ground. He knew they weren't dead, he could hear their heavy breaths and painful groans, but still.

"And then they started to follow you." Theo completed with a nod. Liam didn't notice they were still holding hands until Theo dropped his hand, starting to walk away from Liam. "Let's go, we shouldn't be here."

"Why?" Liam asked, following Theo to where his car was parked.

"This is their area." Theo said. "I'll explain in our way."

"Our way to where?" Liam asked, frowning. Theo got into the car and started it, smiling.

"My home." He said. "I think you should know me better."

Liam nodded, getting into the passenger seat. Theo lighted up a cigarette, driving through the streets in silence for a few minutes.

"Did you see their bandannas?" Theo asked after a few minutes, focused on the street. Liam nodded. "What color was it?"

"Black and green?" Liam replied after a few seconds, remembering the colors of their bandannas.

"And what color is mine?" Theo asked again, smoke popping out of his mouth.

"Red." Liam said. "And Brett's were blue."

"That's right." Theo said with a nod. "That's our colors, red and blue. And that's their colors, black and green."

"What does that mean?"

"It means they're another gang. A rival one." Theo said, fingers tipping in the steering wheel. "We're the robbers, they're the drug dealers. We usually don't talk too much, but they must've seen you with us the other day and now you were at their area. They don't like it."

"But-" Liam said. "I wasn't doing anything!"

"I know pup, but they saw you with us the other day. Now they think you're in the gang, you're one of us."

"They, huh... That's not the word they used." Liam murmured, Theo frowned.

"What word they used?"

Liam bit his lips. "Bitch. They said I'm the new bitch."

"Don't worry pup." Theo said parking in front of his house. Liam didn't even notice they were already in Theo's neighborhood. "They're assholes, don't listen to them. Now c'mon, it's time for you to know my friends."

-x-

Brett was sitting at the table writing something in a notebook and Gabe was in the couch watching some random show when Liam and Theo get into the house. The boys immediately looked up, smiling when they saw Liam with Theo.

"The Highness is back." Gabe said when Liam walked in front of him, getting up and smirking at Liam before goes at the kitchen and open the freezer, grabbing two bottles of beer.

"Theo really adopted the kid, I can't believe it." Brett said amused, grabbing one of the bottles Gabe gave to him.

"Shut up Talbot." Theo said laughing. "Now, Liam. This is Gabe and this is Brett, they're my partners in crime and also my best friends."

"Aw Theo, you're getting soft on us? That's adorable." Gabe said with a smirk, making Brett laugh out loud. "The boy is already making you soft."

"Shut up Gabriel." Theo said showing his middle finger to Gabe. "Now that's the funny part."

"What's the funny part?" Liam asked.

"This motherfucker." Theo said pointing at Gabe, the boy just waved back. "This motherfucker has the softest hands you will ever see. I'm serious."

"What do you mean?" Liam asked confused, frowning.

"He means-" Gabe said. "That I can stole everything from your pockets and you won't even notice it." He completed with a smile, getting close to Liam. He lifted a cellphone, swinging it in front of Liam's face.

Liam's phone.

"How-" Liam said, grabbing his phone back.

"Told you." Theo said with a smile. "Soft hands."

Liam rolled his eyes, checking his pockets to see if everything was still there. He nodded to himself when he felt everything in it's due place, putting his phone back on his pocket.

"And this asshole." Theo said again, and Brett punched him playfully. Theo just smirked and continued. "He’s a master mind. All the plans are made by him and every one of them succeeded." He added, a proud grin stretching on his face.

"And you? What are you doing?" Liam asked, watching curious the boy, eager to find more about this mysterious guy’s.

"Oh, me? I lead. I am the one that executes the plan, the brute force. I am the one that assures safety and the one that makes sure that his crew gets away safe and sound." Theo replayed, locking his green stare into Liam’s, making electric jolts to dance under his skin. "And also, I have a perfect sight." He completed, a smirk in his lips.

"And also, the modesty." Gabe mocks, patting his friend’s back.

"Fuck you!" Theo says towards him, raising his middle finger.

"I’m waiting baby." Gabe grinned and then shook his head, retreating his hands. Liam couldn’t stop the odd feeling that was coiling in his stomach, making him square his jaw and avert his eyes from the two boys. Instead, he looked at the front porch of their house through the window.

"What’s wrong pup? Is there something out of the window that is more interesting than your new friends introductions?" Theo’s voice made him jump startled. He turned his head towards him, watching him with wide eyes. He sure as hell looked like a deer caught in the flashlights.

"What? Oh, I’m sorry, no." He stuttered, feeling his face and neck heating up.

Theo watches him in amusement and something else in his eyes, something he that Liam couldn’t decipher. Theo was a complex person. He’s someone with a cold, calculated personality, and a powerful, intense gaze that could intimidate everyone. And that’s why it’s a little hard for Liam to look into his beautiful green eyes because he’s sure as fuck that he’ll start rambling and then say something weird and then make the boys throw him outside if the house and tell him to never come back because he’s a freak. So that’s why the relatively silence and eye contact avoiding are a great idea.

"Don’t be like this, kid. No one’s gonna way you. You look like you entered in the dragon’s cave and wait to make you it’s meal." Brett hummed from his desk, a large grin spread on his face. Liam frowned. So they think he’s afraid of them.

"I’m not afraid of you if that’s your point. I think we got after this aspect last week when you almost kidnapped me." He interjected with a drop of indignation staining his tone.

"I never said that you should be scared or that you are." Brett said, raising his head and looking at Liam between his long lashes.

"Yeah, but that’s what you pointed out." Liam huffed under his breath, changing the direction of his gaze, the floor looking more interesting than the persons around him in the room. He heard Brett murmuring something and then silence, making Liam to tense, feeling three pairs of eyes on him.

"Soooo, puppy, tell us about you. I mean, we’re making introductions, it would be nice to at least tell us something about you after we said something about ourselves." Theo broke the tension between them, clapping a gentle hand on Liam’s back. The hand is hovering in that spot for a few long seconds, before dropping it in his side. Liam raised his head, feeling again the blushing covering his body as all three gangsters eyed him with curiosity.

"Well, uhm, my name is Liam Dunbar." He started, throwing a look towards Theo while pointing out his name. "I play Lacrosse, I take esgrima classes and I like history. I think my only talent is this weird ability to speak multiple languages." Liam spoke, biting his lip waiting for some reactions.

"How many languages can you speak? I mean, which ones?" Gabe responded curiously, leaning forward in his chair, showing that he is interested in the subject.

"Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, French, Romanian, and a little bit of German." He said, counting on his fingers as enumerating.

"You can speak 7 languages?" Gabe said amazed. "Speak something in one of them then."

"Încerc să mă gândesc la ceva inteligent de spus, dar mintea mea e goală."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Brett asked. "The boy is insulting us Theo I swear."

"I wasn't- I wasn't insulting anyone." Liam said with a frown. "I said 'I’m thinking about something smart to say, but my head is blank'."

"Pup you have to teach me some words in one of these languages. That's sick." Theo said really charmed, his eyes shining in animation, wide grin in his lips. Liam couldn't help but smile too, biting his lips to not smile too openly because that would definitely be weird.

"Theo and Liam sitting in a tree f-u-c-k-i-n-g." Brett sang low, a small grin in his lips as he kept writing whatever he was writing in the notebook. Gabe exploded on guffaws.

Liam could feel his cheeks burning, looking at the floor to avoid eye contact with Theo. "It's okay pup, you get used to it. They're always like that." Theo said kindly, flapping Liam's back softly. He made his way to the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of beer in the freezer before turn back to the couch, sitting relaxed with his legs on the coffee table as he changed channels until he found something interesting to watch.

Liam stood still, looking around. It felt the same way as the first time, the boys just chatting and laughing like their lives were completely normal, like they weren't robbers or had people always trying to kill them. He looked at Brett and Gabe happily chatting at the dinner table, Brett's notebook completely forgotten in the table as he and Gabe started a finger fight and then started to yell nerd things to each other. If someone had told Liam that one day he would witness two gangsters doing a finger fight and yelling 'yes! Darth Vader is the best' and 'Darth Vader could suck my dick' to each other Liam would probably say the person was crazy. But still, here was he, looking at Brett and Gabe's finger fight while they kept yelling Star Wars references to each other.

He looked around one more time before his eyes landed on Theo, sitting in the couch. The boy was interesting, intriguing, that kind of guy you didn't know if you should stay away from or let yourself fall in love with; he had that perfect hair and those beautiful eyes, that could look through your body straight to your soul; that soft and hoarse voice, that could make all the hairs of your body shiver. But in the other hand he was a gangster, a robber, he killed people, he definitely looked insane when he was shooting cops and laughing hysterically while doing that; he could be a psychopath, he could torture and kill Liam and laugh about that, Liam should be aware of that.

But then he remembered the way Theo took care of him not once, but twice, the way he talked to him, the way he looked at Liam's blue ocean eyes like he was desperate to drown himself in. Like he protected Liam like he was the most important thing in his life, even though they just known each other for one and a half week. Theo wouldn't hurt Liam, he knew it, he wouldn't touch a strand of Liam's hair without consent. And that was what was making Liam happy at the moment, the thought of the incapability of Theo hurting him, the thought of Theo protecting him instead.

 _Fucking Nolan_. Liam thought when he suddenly realized that he might be liking Theo a little bit.

"Hey pup." Theo called, making Liam jump in place as he was withdrawn from his thoughts. "You will stay right there the whole day? Have a sit, watch this stupid show with me."

"Right." Liam murmured, sitting next to Theo. A bottle of beer was pushed to his hands. "What are we watching?"

"I don't know." Theo said with a shrug. "But it's funny."

And that's how they spent the rest of the day, watching the silly show on the TV while they heard Brett and Gabe's laughs from the dinner table. At some point Theo flopped his arm onto the back of the couch, above Liam's shoulders, letting Liam blush with the (apparently) unconscious act. He felt nice, peaceful, happy, like he finally had found some place where he fit in. Don't misunderstand him, he loved his friends and would totally die for them without a second thought, but this... This felt different, it felt like he would never get bored if he started to hang out with these guys, he would feel the adrenaline in his veins, he would feel the bittersweet taste of danger, the unknown. He wasn't surprised when he realized that he wanted this, he wanted to feel the adrenaline in his veins, he wanted to feel alive, have a brusque change in his boring life.

He looked at Theo from the corner of his eyes, a small grin in his lips. Theo was nice and interesting, attractive, but he was also a bad guy, involved with bad things and with a bad reputation, he was not the kind of guy you could bring to family's dinner or even introduce to your family. He was dangerous.

But oh God, the danger seemed so good.

And damned will be him if he denies the fact that he really wants this dose of danger in his life, coursing through his veins and becoming part of him. He needed this bittersweet poison to get him feel like he is high, like he is so drowned in it, pushing him into madness and becoming something like the insane boy that was radiating rays of warmth in his side. He wasn’t really aware of the fact that they got closer and closer as in the point when they were like glued together. Liam stiffed, knowing that this is kind of inappropriate. He didn’t even know this guy for a long time and yet they shared this kind of contact that felt so intimate, something so simple and beautiful, just a simple touch, but it made jolts of electricity fill his body. He could feel Theo’s hand drawing little circles on his shoulder, and even through the material of the sweater he was wearing he could feel the finger tracing paths of fire on his skin.

He left out a silent shuddered breath, biting his lip and clenching his around his knees, nails digging through the material of his jeans. He gulped dryly. He has to control himself or he might start to purr at the contact his body was doing with Theo’s and his nickname would change instantly from "puppy" to "kitten" and hell, that sounded so kinky and yet it could turn Liam on within seconds.

 _Woah, wait a minute!_ Liam’s inner voice brought him to reality. _To turn you on? What the fuck Dunbar?_

Oh yeah, what the fuck Dunbar? Since when he got to think like that to a guy that probably would never lay his eyes on him, let alone feel the pull of the attraction as much as Liam felt it. He was doomed. Theo’s hand moved slowly behind him, almost hesitant, looping loosely around his shoulders, making fireworks explode in Liam’s stomach. His skin felt itchy, like it was craving to be touched by this sweet, sinful hands, and his toes curl in his snickers. He felt his shoulders loose gradually the tension that built in the muscles and leaned nonchalantly into the touch.

He picked with the corner of his eye at the boy that made him feel like the Heaven bent just with a single touch. A little grin was scratched on those perfect lips, as if reading Liam’s train of thoughts, still watching whatever was streaming on the screen. His arm tightened it's hold and brought Liam even closer, if that is possible. Liam’s head ended up using Theo’s chest as a pillow. He could hear the constant beating of his heart, the muffled ticking as of a clock’s, comparing with Liam’s crazy race that felt like it could fly any moment from it's ribs cage. He slowly felt the pull of the sleep tugging on his eye lids, the easy movement of the hard chest beneath his head and the distant sound of a heart beat lulling him to sleep until he couldn’t fight it anymore.

His last thoughts were " _fuck, I’m really doomed_ " But he didn’t have time to worry now. He didn’t have time to worry about his friends or about his family. And he really didn’t care. Because like hell he regrets everything that it’s happening right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is our favorite chapter so far, we hope you liked it as much as we did :)


	5. Close As Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! We hope you like this chapter :)

Liam would like to say a lot of things.

He would like to say he had a nice nap. He would like to say he dreamed about Theo again, this time resting in his chest, listening to his soft heartbeat. He would like to say they woke up together, maybe with Theo kissing his face or passing his fingers through his hair and whispering "good morning pup" with a soft voice.

Instead, he woke up with Gabe screaming "Newt loved Thomas more than Teresa did!", what made him fell off the couch with a painful thump. He groaned in the ground, squeezing his forehead where he hit the floor. He looked up slowly, facing Gabe and Brett standing next to the dinner table as if they were arguing, looking straight at him.

"Did I..." Liam said with a sleepy voice. "Did I just wake up with Gabe screaming a Maze Runner reference?"

"It happens more often than you think."

Liam turned around to the direction of the voice, finding Theo sitting in an armchair next to the couch. His messy hair was tied up with his usual red bandanna, some strands of his curly hair escaping over it; he was drawing something in a small black notebook.

"I slept for how long?" Liam asked still looking at Theo, ignoring Gabe and Brett still arguing about Maze Runner.

Theo checked his phone. "A few hours. I have to take you back home."

Gabe cleared his throat. "You mean I have to take the kid home."

"Shut up Gabriel." Theo said. "I can drive."

"I'm definitely not letting you drive my car. The last time I let you drive my car you crashed into a bridge and almost died because you were too distracted looking at the flames."

Liam gasped. "Looking at the flames? You're like a pyromaniac or something like that?"

"No." Theo said with a laugh. "I just like to watch things burn. I like destruction and things like that."

"He means he's crazy." Brett said, Gabe nodded.

"Okay." Liam said slowly, not quite sure about what he was supposed to do. "Can you take me home, please? My parents should be worried."

"As you wish, your Highness."

He looked at Brett one last time before following Gabe and Theo through the door, trying to hold up a smile when he saw his Star Wars t-shirt. It was kinda funny how they were bad gangsters and yet, Brett was still wearing a Star Wars t-shirt saying "Keep Calm and Use The Force" with Darth Vader's face above the word "keep". He smiled at Brett, blushing when he winked and smiled back at him.

He followed Gabe and Theo to the car, jumping into the back seat and closing the door behind him. He couldn't help but notice the last look Theo gave Brett inside of the house, as if he was completely pissed about something Brett did.

"Alright your Highness, let's go back to your castle." Gabe said getting into the car, putting the seat belt on and turning on the car. Theo got into the car right away.

"Huh." Liam said biting his lips. "Can I have a burger before that? I'm hungry."

"No."

"But-"

"Liam, I'm not your bloody chauffeur." Gabe said. "I'm not taking you to Burger King. You can ask your parents for a burger after you go home."

"But Gaaaabe-"

"Don't say me name like that."

"Pleeeeease?"

"Theo, I'm dumping the kid. I'm not paid for this shit."

Theo was almost crying from laughing in the passenger seat. "Take the kid to McDonalds Gabe."

Gabe grunted. "Fine."

"Burger King!" Liam yelled from the back seat.

"Shut up you little shit." Gabe said starting to drive through the street. "I'm taking you to where I want to."

They parked in front of a Burger King 15 minutes later. Gabe got out of the car to buy Liam's burger still grunting, leaving Liam and Theo alone in the car listening to a random music in the radio. Theo opened the window and lighted up a cigarette, resting his arm in the open window while murmuring the song's lyric.

"How have you been these days?" Liam asked after a moment of silence, just the music echoing between them in the car.

Theo shrugged. "Just the usual. Robbing banks, killing people, surviving. And you?"

"Huh." Liam said, a little bit shocked. He definitely wasn't expecting Theo to literally say what he was doing. "Just the usual too. Practicing Lacrosse and esgrima, almost dying in a gangsters' gunfire... The usual."

Theo laughed, resting his legs above the glove compartment. "Sounds exciting, pup."

They fell into silence, Theo smoking his cigarette peacefully, tapping the rhythm of the song that streamed on the background, in the car. Liam chewed his lower lip, looking absent on the window, lost in his thoughts. A lot of questions were running through is head. A lot of questions, but he needed the answer to just one of them. He should ask, but he couldn’t because. He was afraid of the answer.

Instead of talking he just leaned forward and took between his index and his thumb, the cigarette that Theo was holding loosely between his fingers. The gesture surprised Theo, his green eyes wide, watching as the blue-eyed boy inhaled a big amount of the toxic smoke, filling his lungs it. He held it bit in there before opening his mouth and releasing the smoke, strings of white steams flowing lazy from his mouth. He handed it back to Theo, feeling his cheeks burning under the amazed look on Theo’s face. _What the fuck Dunbar? Why did you do that?_

"Jesus puppy! I’m impressed!" Theo said, a low chuckle ringing in his ears. "But as impressed as I am, Gabe will kill you for smoking in his car and this won’t make you rise in his eyes." He added, a smirk plastered on his face, causing the corners of Liam’s lips to pull up into a little smile. But the smile disappeared as fast as it appeared, thoughts about that question.

"Theo?" He called quietly, finally finding the courage to clear the mess inside his head. Theo hummed before inhaling once more from the cigarette and throwing it. "How did you know I was there? How did you know I was cornered?"

Theo went rigid for a few seconds, before loosening up his muscles in a forced way. He kept his position, his fingers moving on his thigh.

"Coincidence." The green-eyed boy responded dryly.

"Yeah, right." Liam whispered, moving his eyes on his hands, fidgeting them in his lap. He heard Theo exhale loudly and then the rustle of the material as Theo moved in the passenger seat.

"Okay, maybe not a coincidence." Theon spoke again. Liam raised his stare towards the other boy.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked, confusion being clear on his face.

"I followed you." Theo answered after some long seconds of tense silence. Liam’s eyebrows shot up, almost reaching his hair lines. _Wow, besides a gangster he’s a stalker too_. "No, don’t take it in the wrong way. What I want to say is that I followed you for your protection. We have a lot of enemies, Liam, I saw this coming." Theo added, expression serious, stare impossible to read.

"I don’t need protection." Liam said low, feeling the anger slowly rolling in his stomach. Oh fuck, he kept his IED under control for such a long time, he can’t lose his grasp upon it now, in a car with a very dangerous gangster.

"Yeah, sure pup. It’s not like you almost got killed in that alley." Theo snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I could have handled the situation." Liam said through clenched teeth.

"How? Crying and rocking back and forth, maybe melting those assholes hearts with that, letting you go? Ooooh, no puppy, this is not how’s working with those guys. And keep it in mind that I won’t always be there to save your ass." Theo bit, a low fire burning dangerously in his green irises, making Liam gulp, the anger making his throat burns. And what was the speech about not railing up a gangster?

"Oh, yeah? And who’s the one that took me? Whose fault is that they saw me in your fucking area?"

Before Theo could say something, the door on the driver’s seat flew open, Gabe’s figure appearing in his visual field, carrying the food. He flops on the seat, closing the doors.

"Okay, here is your damn foo…" He started, but his words trailed off, sensing the tensioned atmosphere floating around. "What did I miss?" He asked, confusion taking over his features.

"Nothing." Theo answered quickly, snatching the bag out of Gabe’s hands and fishing the box with his burger.

Gabe, turned slowly towards the backseat, looking at Liam as if asking " _what the fuck did just happen?_ ". Liam just shrugged his shoulders and took his burger too, furiously opening the box, almost tearing it, and taking a big bite from the burger. Gabe looked between them bewildered before dropping it and throwing a wallet in Liam's lap, igniting the engine and leading the way to Liam’s neighborhood.

Liam frowned to the wallet in his lap. _His_ wallet. "Is that-"

"Yes." Gabe said without looking at Liam.

"How and when did you get my wallet?"

Gabe shrugged. "Is not that hard, you know. I can get whatever I want."

"You paid the burgers with my money?"

"Obviously. You make me drive you to Burger King and expect me to pay the burgers?"

Liam rolled his eyes, finally letting the silence fell into the car. They got to Liam's neighborhood fast. Liam getting out of the car with a quick "bye" before closing the door and walking with big steps towards his house. He heard the tires of the car and Gabe’s voice muffled, screaming " _You fucker, did you smoke into my car?_ " towards Theo.

Liam sighed, watching the car disappear from his view before got into his house. His parents were nowhere to be seen, the maids doing their own jobs, a strong scent of lasagna coming from the kitchen. He looked at his cellphone; 9:37pm. He sighed again, going up the stairs to his room to take a shower.

He locked his room, took a long and hot shower and jumped in his bed, grabbing his MacBook and connecting with Nolan in skype.

"Hey Liam." Nolan said through the screen, a big smile in his lips. "What's up? Corey said you left the esgrima class earlier, what happened?"

"I wasn't feeling really good." Liam replied, running his fingers through his wet hair. "I saw Theo today."

"You did?!" Nolan shouted, looking really excited about that. "I need details, Dunbar."

"Okay, so I was coming back home after I left the esgrima class and there was this weird gang and they tried to kill me. But as you can see, they didn't."

Nolan gasped. "People tried to kill you again, Liam? Dude, you have such an exciting life, I want that too!"

"Shut up, let me talk." Liam said. "So Theo popped out of nowhere as if he was a fucking ghost and saved me again. So he took me to his home and properly introduced me to his friends and I ended up falling asleep in his chest, and I woke up a few hours later to one of his friends screaming a Maze Runner reference."

Nolan frowned. "Wait, a Maze Runner reference?"

"Yes! They're awesome, there's this guy Brett who is such a nerd, you should've seen it!"

"Hold on." Nolan said. "Are you really saying that now you have three gangsters friends and one of them is a nerd and the other one screams random Maze Runner references?"

"Yes...?" Liam said slowly.

"Dude that's awesome! I wanna met them!"

"You're gonna like Gabe, he's such as annoying as you are!" Liam said happily.

"Fuck you!" Nolan replied fake smiling, Liam laughed. Nolan cleared his throat. "So, you and Theo?"

"What about me and Theo?" Liam asked, his voice a little bit lower than before.

"You fucked?"

Liam chocked in his saliva. "Nolan!"

"You did?!" Nolan's eyes widened, a big smile in his lips.

"No!"

"Oh. Damn it." He said, sounding really disappointed.

"I don't know." Liam sighed. "Theo is just... He's amazing, but he treats me like I'm a kid, I don't think he would like me the way I do."

Liam jumped in place when Nolan suddenly started to scream like a maniac.

"What happened?!" Liam asked worried, but Nolan was too busy jumping and screaming.

"You just admitted that you like Theo! Oh my God! Oh my God!"

Liam widened his eyes when he realized what he had just done.

"Nolan! Stop!" He called, but Nolan was still screaming. "I'm gonna kick you in the balls you little shit! Stop it!"

It took a few minutes to Nolan stop freaking out. "I can't wait to tell Mason and Corey!" Nolan said happily, already grabbing his phone.

"No!" Liam yelled, making Nolan get scared and drop his phone. "Don't tell them! Specially Corey."

"Why?" Nolan sounded disappointed. Liam sighed again.

"Because I'm not sure yet. Today we were waiting in the car for Gabe to buy my burger and-"

"You made a gangster buy a burger for you? Dude I'm so glad I'm your friend."

"Shut up." Liam grunted. "We were waiting in the car and Theo started this shit saying that he can't save me all the time and dude, I don't need to be saved. I'm not a damsel in distress, I can take care of myself."

"You said you almost died before Th-"

"My point is-" Liam interrupted him. "He treats me like I'm a kid and I need to be save all the time, and I don't need it."

"But-"

"Nolan, please." Liam groaned. "Just listen to me. Theo made me angry, I felt my IED growing inside of me when he was talking about 'protecting me' and stuff like that. I kept my IED under control for such a long time, and he almost brought it back to the fore."

They kept in silence for a few minutes. Nolan knew that Liam's IED were a delicate subject in his life, so he understood him about that and respect him, waiting for him to started talking again.

"I need a distraction." Liam said after a few more minutes. Nolan smiled, already knowing what to do.

"I have an idea." He said, making Liam frown at him.

"We're not having sex again."

"Ew, gross. That happened once, it will never happen again." Nolan said twisting his nose. "We're going to a party."

"A _party_?" Liam asked raising his eyebrows, Nolan smiled.

"You said you need a distraction. What's a better distraction than a party?"

"Staying at home watching superhero movies and eating a lot of pizza until I puke my stomach off because I ate too much?" He tried.

"Shut up Eugene. You're disgusting."

Liam grunted. "Oh, you did not-"

"C'mon Liam. It's just a party." Nolan begged, rolling his eyes.

Liam sighed, knowing that he couldn't change Nolan's mind. "Fine. When is the party?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Particularly, I fucking love write the scenes between Gabe and Liam because their friendship is just hilarious hahah

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let us know your thoughts :)


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